Big announcement from Purple Cow leads to a SALE!

I’m sharing the email sent out to the Purple Cow Vineyard’s mailing list yesterday.  At the bottom are some special prices on 2 of their wonderful wines.  If you’d like to get some of these wines, head to the winery this weekend, OR EMAIL ME and I’ll get them to you!  Without further ado:

It’s a pleasure to announce the next phase in our winery construction project. We at Purple Cow have gathered the designs and information needed to submit for permits to construct an incredible gathering space for us all. The new facility will not only improve our ability to provide great service and beautiful vistas, it will allow us to increase the breadth of our product line with additional hand-crafted small-production wines. The next steps require much courage and energy, a journey Purple Cow hopes to make with your help.

We have progressed funding the designs, engineering, and information gathering from the success you have given us.  For the next large step in our future, and with today’s lending atmosphere, we must have permits approved before we receive any funding from our bank. This next step in submitting requires substantial application fees for land use and building permits.

With this said, Jon is making an offer to you, our friends and family, to help us forge forward in obtaining success in this next phase of our future. Jon has put together a rewarding opportunity for you to obtain our wonderful wines at generous pricing, hoping you all will invest in the future of your gathering space and your personal cellar.

Was Is Case Price Case Price Savings 2005 Elena Tempranillo $32 $29 $250 $76 2007 Sophie Pinot Noir $24 $20 $180 $45

If you don’t live close but wish to take advantage of the offer, please email as the web the web ordering system doesn’t handle special pricing offers.

We will open 11-5 both days this weekend to make this offer as accessible as possible.

We will also have design documents on display this weekend for your perusal. Many thanks in advance for your interest and participation.

[Via http://winewithgraham.wordpress.com]

it starts now

“What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.”

Life can’t be explained in a simple quote or even a bottle of wine, but I reckon you’d get closer with each sip..

Later.

[Via http://shadowplayza.wordpress.com]

Creative Juices Wine Show: Episode 6-Tokaji 2006 Sárgamuskotály

Here it is – Hungarian Tokaji 2006 Sárgamuskotály – just like you guys asked. Delicious, wonderful juice. We hope you enjoy the episode and in particular, Olena showing off her phenomenal wine swirling skills .

Wine: Tokaji Sárgamuskotály 2006

Price: $15

[Via http://creativejuicesllc.wordpress.com]

GreItaSco (Greek honey, Italian wine and Scottish salmon)

Master Sous Chef presents:

GreItaSco (Greek honey, Italian wine and Scottish salmon)

• Music list:
• Music artist: Morcheeba
• Album: Parts Of The Process

This is my first fish dish and, of course, the expectations are very high!

I just came back from the supermarket and I bought salmon fillets, rocket salad and… that’s it!

Mmm… How can I make my salmon tasty, yummy and appealing?

Very simple, my friends… very simple.

I opened the cupboard and I found one of the many jars containing Greek honey (yes, my wife is officially the biggest Greek honey smuggler in the UK! She keeps bringing tons!)

If you do not know, by the way, Greek honey is the best (or at least is what Greeks say…).

Honestly, the honey is quite something and if you have ever been in Greeceland, you must have tried some yogurt with honey, simply divine!

Honey can be too sweet for my taste though to be very honest, so I had the idea of melting it in a pan with some wine… The experiment was very successful.

I simply baked the salmon in the oven and then poured the sauce of wine and honey over it and the rocket salad really made a difference in giving the dish some crunchiness and balance.

I am very pleased with this new creation, its simple, delicious and very impressive. The overall preparation took only 15 minutes!

If you are inviting guests for dinner and you are running out of time… there you go! (Also very good if you are not very excited about your guests… and you do not want to put too much effort!)

The results are very good… Trust me, I tried in both situations and it works! Ha!

• Ingredients:
• Salmon
• 2 full teaspoons of Greek honey
• ¾ of a glass of red wine
• Rocket salad
• Salt, Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Estimated Cooking time:
15 minutes

• Preparations:

1)    Wrap the oven tray with some film and place the salmon fillets. Put in oven at 180 C for 8 minutes. (Do not cook your salmon over 10 minutes or it will loose all its moisture)

2)    Pour the red wine in a pan. Add the honey. Stir until melted for at least 5 minutes. Make sure that the sauce it’s not too runny. It should cook on medium fire.

3)    Remove the salmon from the oven and let it rest for 2 minutes.

4)    Place some rocket salad on the bottom of the plate, sprinkle some salt and pour 2 tiny drops of olive oil.

5)    Place the salmon fillets above the rocket. Add sea salt and olive oil. Pour sauce over the salmon.

6)    Serve and enjoy

• WIFE’S MARKS:
• Flavour: 9/10 – The salmon was cooked to perfection, melting in the mouth! The sweetness of the sauce was balancing out the strong flavour of the salmon. The rocket was perfectly complementing the  greasiness of the salmon. Very tasty !!!!
• Ctrativity: 9/10 – Beautifully presented. Fairly simple ingredients once again proved that sometimes …..less is more ! 

[Via http://mastersouschef.wordpress.com]

When Not Drinking Helps Drinking

My parents were in Napa recently and sent me a few bottles of wine to try. I am looking forward to trying them. But my dad asked, “Why have you not tried them yet?” I replied that I had to take things slowly.

As I continue my studies towards becoming a Master Sommelier, I have found that I have a much sharper nose and tasting ability if I take a day or two ff per week from tasting. This is counter intuitive to the norm where you should try as much as possible. But not drinking seems to heighten my sense.

A few friends have said that I am bit different because root beer cleanses my palate. Many in the wine industry use beer to cleanse out the taste buds. But all of this is actually very important.

We know that taste is at least 70% in the nose. When evaluating  glass of wine, the firs t thing to do i to take in the bouquet or nose. That is where you get the cherries or lemon or whatever the wine has to offer. The same holds true for champagne. The mouth only gives us sweet, sour bitter, salt and Umami. Umami is the sensation of full or fattiness in the mouth. When someone says there is a great mouthfeel to the wine, then it is being experienced all over the mouth, Umami.

But by not drinking each day, it seems my sense are heightened and I get more out of each taste. The hard part is memorizing each wine and it’s smells and markers. I wish someone would send me a list of wines with accurate markers.  But when doing blind valuations, it is best to stick with classic wines from classic regions. Modern wine writers have influenced many wine makers to make big, extracted wines that to me often taste homogenous with other wines. Many of these wines are fine, but too many wine makers are losing a sense of terrior or place that makes that wine distinct. I look forward to always trying to taste the difference in most wines.

Because at California Taste Fine Wine, I taste a lot of wine, I suspect I am becoming a professional wine taster. I have definite opinions. Just do not get me going on Sauvignon Blanc. You know who you are.

So when you are Uncorking Happiness, it is often best to occasionally take a break from tasting and drinking for a few hours or a day or two. The following bottle will be just that much better.

[Via http://kenspearsonwine.wordpress.com]

Busting into club shipments

We buy a lot of wine. No lie. I belong to 8 wine clubs. I buy wine regularly from local merchants and from internet sources as well as on our visits to local vineyards and our trips to Napa/Sonoma. In any given year I easily buy 20+ cases of wine which even if we were to exclusively consume those would be more than we could taste at home in one year. Wine is a major part of our lives. It has been since before I ever knew what a blog was and will continue to be in the future, with or without the wine blog.

One of the clubs we belong to is De La Montanya. We discovered De La Montanya on our very first trip to Sonoma nearly 4 years ago. We were out for a drive one afternoon, thinking we’d just enjoy the scenery for the day when we stumbled upon a tiny sign directing us to De La Montanya. While we weren’t looking for tasting rooms that afternoon, we couldn’t resist checking it out once we followed the signs to the small, well-hidden tasting room.  That day we attempted to join the wine club, as these weren’t wines we were going to find in any local shop back home. Much to our dismay, they had a waiting list as the club had no further capacity at the time. We signed up anyway, and indicated that they should simply add us when they could and start shipping the wine. Our first club shipment arrived about 3 months later and we were delighted to be members and have been enjoying the wines ever since. I even served all De La Montanya selections at Christmas last year after a fantastic shipping/discount offer that came in my fall club shipment. As we watch our wine overfill our racks at an alarming rate, I decided it was time to jump back in and start tasting them. We plucked the 2007 De la Montanya Viognier out of a previously unopened box. The wine had a real cork closure, clocked in at 13.2% alcohol by volume, and I think it ran about $20 in the club shipment.

On the nose I found the wine to be very perfumey, like I expect from a Viognier. (I just had a Viognier tonight at Bistro Bis that simply smelled and tasted like fresh honey, and nothing else, not at all what I was anticipating and I was disappointed that it lacked the aroma and characteristics I expect from Viognier, a grape I’ve come to expect great things from.) This was not the case at all with the De La Montanya, thankfully.  I got white flowers, orange spice, honeysuckle, orange spice cake, and citrus. In the moth I found citrus, lemon, spice, orange, lemon zest, and honeysuckle. I enjoyed this Viognier quite a bit and intend to savor my second bottle this summer while sitting on my deck and soaking up the sun.

[Via http://wannabewino.com]

celebration of wine

This weekend was the annual Celebration of Wine charity wine tasting and wine auction. The proceeds from ticket and auction sales benefit local public radio. There were over 300 wines to taste, but we went with a cheat sheet of wines we knew we simply must try.

With wine glass and map in hand, we wandered around the 39 tables and tried champagnes, proseccos, chardonnays, sauvignon blancs, zinfandels, meritages, cabernet sauvignons, and even a dessert wine or two.

Some of my favorites included the Ridge Zinfandel Ponzo, the Lail Blueprint Cabernet Sauvignon, a Corison Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, and the Barlow Barrouge Cabernet/Merlot blend.

We had tasted several of the wines before, some on our 2009 trip to Napa. Because we knew of some that we liked already, we went back to have another taste of some favorites – the Ehlers 1886 Cabernet Sauvignon, Belle Glos Las Alturas Pinot Noir, and the Alexander Valley Vineyard’s showcase wine, Cyrus. They did not disappoint.

Breaks were critical. If we’d tasted wines for five hours straight, we’d have been stumbling home. The silent wine auction gave us a good excuse to leave the tasting room. Plus, I’m a sucker for silent auctions, so I had to get a good look at the bidding sheets to see what kind of competition I’d be up against.

The Celebration of Wine always ends with a live wine auction. Last year, probably due to the horrible economy, the wine auction was filled with great bargains. We were expecting that this year, but people were very generous with their donations during this auction. In fact, the couple of items we tried to bid on were quickly bid up past retail value and out of our price range. Not good for us, but very good for public radio. And, in hindsight, it was probably good for us too. We can definitely find other uses for that money.

We did walk out with one “win” in the silent auction. Last June in Napa, we spent an amazing afternoon at the Oakville Ranch winery in Napa. When we saw the 2002 Oakville Ranch Robert’s Blend in the auction list, I knew that we’d be bidding on it. It will probably sit collecting dust for a while, but when we do drink it, we’ll have great memories of our trip there last summer.

[Via http://merrygourmet.wordpress.com]

Did you have a good weekend? I did!

Did everyone have a good weekend? I love Saturday nights, but I hate getting up in the morning on Sunday.  I think Sundays depress me more than Mondays…… although I love a rainy Sunday It was a beautiful weekend here in London, Ontario (where I live!) I didn’t really take advantage of the sunny days as I only went out during the nights. I had a great weekend though! Friday I went to Call the Office (a local bar/concert place) to see Shad (who happened to go to my high school… CENTRAL… represent!) The concert was amazing!! It was very small and intimate and there were 2 great opening acts- Two Crown King (another local band) and Grand Analog  (from Winnipeg).  The show was great! I took some pictures, but as you can see below they aren’t the greatest…. oh well. I also decided to bring my new camera with me (It’s the dual screen Samsung ST550!) It’s suppose to take high definition/resolution (whatever?) videos, so I thought I would test it out. If I can figure out how to add a video I will do so (let me know what you think!)  Saturday (during the day) was pretty much a write off as I slept most of it away (the concert went late the night before.) But Saturday night was fun! We (my bf Justin, and friends Ben and Amy) went out to dinner downtown (Crabby Joe’s… nothing spectacular) but it was a lot of fun! They are a great couple to hang out with.  I had some nice Masi Italian wine, cant remember what it was called though….. Afterwards we met at Yuk Yuk’s as my boyfriend had won 25 tickets (for FREE!) We met a bunch of old friends (and new friends) there and we had a good laugh (Justin was in tears!) The one guy was just too funny. I can’t remember his name, but I’ll ask Justin when he gets home. (He got called out to an emergency for work in Paris Ontario). Which brings me to my Sunday….. my lonely Sunday because my boyfriend had to work last minute…. oh well, it`s kind of peaceful being at home by yourself!   I seem to be rambling on a bit (I do that a lot). Anyway, I just wanted to update my blog with a bit of my weekend, and see what my reader’s have been up to. (Hopefully I have a couple readers by now!) Please leave a comment if you wish to share anything fun you did this weekend!   I will leave you with some concert photos, and possibly some videos (if I can figure it out!)

xo.meg.xo

My friend Amy and I enjoying Shad at Call the Office in London, Ontario. 02.19.10

My boyfriend Justin and me at Call the Office in London, Ontario. 02.19.10

Two Crown King at Call the Office in London, Ontario. 02.19.10

Grand Analog at Call the Office in London, Ontario. 02.19.10

Shad at Call the Office in London, Ontario. 02.19.10

I figured out videos! Here are a couple!!!

Two Crown King performing a cover of Run This Town (Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West) 02.19.10

A Freestyle by Shad & Grand Analog 02.19.10

[Via http://meganhickman.wordpress.com]

Pears in Wine

Adding wine to pears brings out a great flavor. The wine kind of carmalizes and gets thick, making a taffy like consistency in areas. I followed the directions to the recipe, and then topped the side of the plate with a little dollop of whipped cream. To view the recipe, click here: http://rachelscottagehouse.wordpress.com/recipes/fruits/pears-in-wine/

xoxo
Rachel

[Via http://rachelscottagehouse.wordpress.com]

Spatburgunder, Blauburgunder

Spatburgunder what?
Blauburgunder how?

Ah ha!
Pinot Nero, Pinot Noir,
AKA Burgundy.

Six Pinots
Wine 101.
MJ Sommelier.
Amavi Restaurant.
Santa Fe.

Heartbreak grapes.
How noble.
How mythic.
Steals hearts.
Even ours.

Cool fog,
grows best.
Complex character.
Youthful red.
Berries, cherries.
Mature earth.
Mushrooms. Violets.
Either way,
Sublime harmony.

Wine #1.

Wild Rock
Pinot Noir
Central Otago
New Zealand
2008 $20
Ruby color
dissipates quickly
Nose:
Cherry. Plum.
Cranberry. Rose.
Palate:
Citrus acid.
Ripe cherry.
Cranberry.
Grapefruit pith.
Light finish.
Fruity. Quick.
Zesty fun.
Young wine.

Wine #2.

Rex Hill
Pinot Noir
Willamette Valley
Oregon
2007 $ 25
Nose:
Not fruit-driven.
Bing cherry.
Barnyard manure.
Earthy. Leafy.
Tea box.
Cigar humidor.
Cedar smoke.
Vanilla.
Pumpkin spice.
Palate:
Very complex.
Sexy. Soulful.
Elegant. Mature.
Spicy pepper.
Dry finish.
Seductively delicious.
Take me.
NOW!

Wine #3.

Maison Louis Latour
Domaine de
Valmoissine
Vin de pays de
Coteux de Verdon
2008 $17
Tawny color.
Nose:
Not fruit-driven.
Black cherry.
Black raspberry.
Black plum.
Tobacco. Fennel.
Hairspray.
Palate:
After tannins
come fruit.
Skin of
old fruit.
Earth-driven.
Old world.
Long finish.
Dusty dry.

Wine #4.

Au Bon Climat
Pinot Noir
Santa Barbara

California
2008 $24
Hippie winemaker.
Light garnet.
Nose:
Full frontal.
Fruit-forward.
Red Cherry.
Red plum.
Boysenberry Jam.
Espresso. Ocean.
Forrest pitch.
Vanilla. Spice.
White pepper.
Fun. Fun.
Palate:
Some tannins.
Full mouth.
Verve. Heat.
Lip-smacking.
Ripe fruit.
Bold style.
New world.

Wine #5.

Kali Hart
Pinot Noir.
Monterey County.
California.
2007 $25-30
Nose:
Flowers. Juicy.
Overripe fruit.
Baked fruit.
Palate:
Molasses. Tobacco.
Toffee. Caramel.
Fig newton.

Noisy class.
Can’t hear.
Getting tipsy.
Uncontrollable conversation.

Wine #6.

Domaine Moillard
Sauvigny-Les Baune
Vilage Cru.
2006 $36-40
Light tawny.
Nose:
Elusive. Sophisticated.
Dried Cherry.
Dried Cranberry.
Dry cereal.
High alcohol.
Palate:
Grabs hold.
Juicy. Jammy.
Syrah added?
Likely Spoofalated.
Drink now.

Hearts stolen.
Wanting more.
Must comply.
Headed home.

Happy Bellies.

[Via http://2chew.wordpress.com]

In Vinegar Veritas Est

My first attempt at making my own wine a couple of years ago didn’t go as well as hoped; I have learned since that time what works and what doesn’t when it comes to quantities of fruit and sugar per finished gallon of grog etc.

The first batch turned out a bit grim, but the cloud does have a silver lining – it turns out that this horrible brew actually makes fine wine vinegar (some would say it was most of the way there when I made it).

Turning it into vinegar has to be one of the very easiest things I have ever done. All I have been doing is pouring a couple of bottles of wine into a glass jug, adding a splash of some wine vinegar I already had, covering the top so that it is partially open to the air but flies can’t get into it, and just leaving it for a couple of weeks. Bingo! Wine vinegar.

I discovered that a really great way to store this vinegar is in those beer bottles which have replaceable tops which swing on a kind of pivot arrangement, the tension in which keeps the top on the bottle – Grolsch is one well-known brand which has this kind of bottle.

So I was forced to drink several bottles of beer so that I had something to keep my wine vinegar in!

The vinegar makes delicious vinaigrettes, and of course if you have far too much of it, you can use it for cleaning, as per Kim and Aggie.

[Via http://ourgreencottage.wordpress.com]

Tuesday dinner.

Best enchilada in the world.

Cherry tortilla with vanilla sauce.

Close up.

This is the place where this fabulous dinner happened.

The way out.

[Via http://lostinseasons.wordpress.com]

Wine vs. Beer Tonight!!!

Hey everyone! Happy Wine Wednesday! We wanted to remind you that tonight is Beer vs. Wine at DiVino Wine Bar @7pm. We are going to be having a taste off paired with tapas for $25. The face-off will feature Sokol Blosser Evolution vs. Stella Artois, and The Crusher Petite Sirah vs. Duvel. It’s Ameerican Wine vs. Belgian Beer, and you decide the winner!

This has never been done before, so by coming out, you’ll be making history! Call 915.351.1000 to reserve. Cheers!!!

Zak & Olena

[Via http://creativejuicesllc.wordpress.com]

Muffins, Chili, Wine, and Ask Away!

Blueberry Banana Tofu Muffins adapted from Heather at Get Healthy with Heather

1 package silken tofu (I used regular, firm tofu)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/8 cup agave nectar
2 tbsp canola oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 large very ripe banana
1 cup whole wheat flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
1 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp  baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp slivered almonds

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.  In your food processor or blender add the tofu, maple syrup, agave, oil, vanilla and banana.  Puree until smooth.

In a large bowl combine the flour, oats,wheat germ, sea salt, baking powder, baking soda and 2 tablespoons  slivered almonds.  Add the tofu mixture and mix until combined (it will be pretty thick).  Gently stir in the blueberries.

Line a muffin pan with 12 muffin cups, or coat with olive oil spray. Fill muffin tins to the top. Top each muffin with the remaining slivered almonds.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Yield: 17 muffins

Nutrition Information (per muffin): 128 calories; 3.9 g. fat; 35mg. sodium; 19.9 g. carbohydrate; 4.9 g. fiber; 2.9 g. protein

Review: These were really good! Even with regular tofu, I was really impressed with these muffins! Super easy, too!

Best Buffalo Chicken Chili by Biz of Biggest Diabetic Loser

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 large carrots
3 stalks celery
1 large red pepper
5 cloves of garlic
5 tablespoons of chili powder
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 cup Frank’s Hot Moore’s Wing Sauce
2 (15 oz) cans tomato sauce
1 (15 oz) diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz) black beans, drained
1 (15 oz) chili beans in sauce (do not drain)
salt and pepper to taste

Put chicken breasts in food processor to grind up  if you can find ground chicken breast, you can use that too.  I chopped the chicken as I don’t have a food processor. Heat oil and add chicken and cook about 10 minutes on medium heat until no longer pink.  Rinse out processor and add carrots, celery, garlic and red pepper and puree.  Again, I chopped the carrots, celery, and red pepper as I do not have a food processor. Add to chicken mixture and cook about 5 minutes until veggies start to soften.

Next add the rest of the ingredients, put stove on simmer and cook for 1 hour.

Nutrition Information (Per Cup): 239 calories, 3.4 fat, 29 carbs, 7.5 fiber and 23.5 protein.

Review: Spicy! This chili was really unique and husband loved it! Thumbs up!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Have a question for me? Send it on over! I don’t have enough questions to post a Q&A yet . I’m an open door…ask me anything! Email questions to me at PreventionRD@gmail.com!

Question: Did you do anything to celebrate Mardi Gras?

Random question: Would you rather go a day without your CELL PHONE or your COMPUTER?

Don’t forget to enter in to win a Vitalicious Super Sampler! The giveaway ends TONIGHT!

Heading to the library over my lunch hour to catch up with everyone! Sorry I’ve been MIA — duty calls, what can I say?

Happy hump day! Be well!

[Via http://preventionrd.com]